Ko Siu Lan plays with the misunderstandings and contradictions when different cultures, languages and social systems co-exist, and is inspired by her experiences of living in China and the West. In 2010, Ko found herself in a controversy when she displayed a piece of work, which was a play on words from a slogan by President Sarkozy, at the Ecole Nationale Supérieure des Beaux-Arts in Paris. Her piece was immediately censored and removed but unbeknownst exactly by whom or why. Since then, she has focused on using words to explore the themes of nostalgia and fear.